Laura Christman: Nursery retail picture isn't entirely rosy

There was plenty of demand for vegetable seedlings in the north state this year. Some of that was due to people planting more than once because of a spring with cold weather and hail.
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Gardeners don't like to be out in the yard if it's too chilly. Or too soggy. Or too hot.

If your livelihood depends on such people, things can be a little tricky — especially in a place like Redding where weather often swings from one extreme to another, and every year is different.

Nationwide, nursery sales sound upbeat. The National Gardening Association recently sent out its 2011 National Gardening Survey showing that consumers across the country spent $2.990 billion on fruit trees, berries, herbs and other food plants in 2010. That was up slightly from $2.989 billion in 2009.

"That's the highest level of spending on food gardening seen in more than a decade, and a 20 percent increase over the $2.409 billion consumers spent in 2008 before the economic downtown turn," Bruce Butterfield, the association's research director, says in a news release.

The association reports that money spent on lawns, ornamentals and do-it-yourself products dipped from 2009 to 2010, going from $30.121 billion to $28.409 billion.

Wondering if the north state was experiencing the trends reported by the National Gardening Association, I embarked on my own research — an unscientific sampling of people who sell plants in these parts.

"Actually what we are seeing in customer interest is organics — all the way around," said Suzan Campbell, owner of Gold Leaf Nursery in Redding, noting that customers want natural treatments for plants and organic products for improving soil, whether they are growing food plants or ornamentals.

The downturn in the economy has affected business, she said. "This means working harder and more creatively to earn that buck. Sometimes 24/7."

Chris Moats, owner of Castle Mountain Gardens in Redding, reports a big demand for veggie seedlings. "This year I was so slammed on vegetables. I have never sold this many."

Some of the demand was likely due to the cold, wet spring that went into June and included hailstorms that pounded tender, young seedlings. Gardeners did a lot of replacement planting this season.

"Some were buying twice," Moats said. "But some were just buying and putting in big gardens."

"This last spring was so wet and cold that the ground didn't warm up until late in the growing season, which brought customers back two, three, even four times to replant their gardens," Campbell noted.

George Winter, owner of Wyntour Gardens in Redding, noted that gardeners were able to plant much later into the season this year because temperatures were so mild in June and July. That was a nice plus, but mostly it helped the nursery make up for lousy sales in March when the cold, wet weather washed away any hopes of spring fever.

"March was just such a horrible month. We lost a lot of business because of the rain," Winter said.

Since the housing market fizzled a few years back, there's been much less demand for the nursery's larger-container trees and ornamental shrubs, Winter said. There are more sales of fertilizers, soil amendments and do-it-yourself products, he said. "It's gone more toward maintaining than planting."

While sales at the nursery aren't what they were in the housing market's glory days, Winter said, "I feel really fortunate that we have done all right this year."

Wayne Kessler, owner of Shambani Organics in Shingletown, sells organic vegetable seedlings at farmers markets and to nurseries. "In the last three years we have had a struggle to keep up with demand," he said.

He said the demand was due to people approaching gardening from a practical perspective. "I think people are becoming more concerned about the safety of the food, taste of the food and prices of food. I just think we're on sort of the beginning of a food movement."

Winter has a different take on the situation. He said gardening remains more a hobby than a practicality.

"I don't feel like we are like a grocery store," he said. "It's not something that people have to do, it's something people want to do."

Laura Christman's column runs every other Saturday. She can be reached at lchristman@redding.com or 225-8222. Read previous columns at homegarden.redding.